Many containers are provided with tamper-resistant devices to resist refilling of contents in the containers. For example, a container for carrying a liquid product can include a fitment that renders the container non-refillable, so as to impede efforts to refill the container with inferior products. U.S. Pat. No. 3,399,811 illustrates a container of this type.
A general object of the present disclosure, in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, is to provide a product and/or package including a container and a use-evident indicator for indicating that the product and/or package has been used, for example, by opening of the package and/or by dispensing or other removal of original flowable product from the container.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
A product in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure includes a container and a use indicator carried by the container so that, upon removal of a closure from the container or upon removal of flowable product from within the container, a coloration of the product changes irreversibly to indicate to a user that the package has been used, wherein the container includes a wall recess and the use indicator is carried in the wall recess.
In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method of discouraging reuse of a container after opening of the container, which includes the step of: applying a permanent discoloration to the container, which is observable by a potential user to indicate that the container has already been used, wherein said step of applying a permanent discoloration to the container is carried out by carrying a capsule of at least one of etchant material or colorant material in a wall recess of the container in such a way that the etchant and/or colorant material is released to change the appearance of the container upon rupture of the capsule caused by a user.